Following a 9-3 record and area round appearance last season, the Ozona Lions plan to not only rebuild under new head coach Ed Perez in 2013 but also improve on its impressive season and fight through District 14-1A Division I.

While the Lions battle the losses of a strong senior class as well as the resignation of third-year head coach Ray Brown, Perez takes the reigns in Ozona with 16 years of coaching under his belt. The new coach believes he has a strong enough core to continue the success the team enjoyed last year.

"We have big shoes to fill from the accomplishments the team made last year and it's a little deceiving because we don't have a lot of those guys back," Perez said. "A lot of them were seniors but we do have a great core group back which will be the backbone of our team. We have a really great offensive and defensive lineman in Hazael Damian, and we're expecting to get our quarterback (Jayton Rodriguez) back soon after an ACL injury from basketball.

"We have a great group of seniors so we're going to rely on lots of senior leadership and I'm expecting big things from them."

Perez was most recently head coach at his alma mater — 2A Olton — before moving to Ozona and inheriting a team with a new look but plenty of potential. Perez says the team has done a great job adjusting to the learning curve of a new coaching staff and is ready to see how the team can produce on the field in tonight's scrimmage against San Saba.

"They've done a great job adjusting and they have a lot of football knowledge," Perez said. "Coach Brown and his staff did a wonderful job in coaching these guys and it showed in their record last season. I don't want to make any predictions because I haven't seen how we've done against anybody yet, but we've got our first scrimmage (tonight) and I'm hoping it goes well and we can build on the success of last year."

The Lions plan to use their spread offense behind Rodriguez and all-district athlete Daniel Gonzalez. Perez, a former defensive coordinator, has high hopes for the defensive side of the ball as well.

"We're going to be a multiple defense based out of the 4-3," Perez said. "The anchors include Hazael on the line and the linebacker core will be centered around Daniel Lombrana. When you're looking at the heart of the defense from the first level, second level, and third level, we'll have Hazael, Daniel and then Tyler Galindo at safety. The core of the defense is solid and Lombrana is the only junior that we'll have back next year but Hazael and Tyler will both bring a lot to the table when it comes to senior leadership."

The team will once again compete in a district that has been dominated by Mason for the past two seasons. The Punchers have gone 27-1 in the past two seasons and 2012 bi-district finalist Brackett returns a solid squad this season in its own rite.

But Perez believes the Lions will be built this season to compete once again with the strengths it has.

"(Mason and Brackett) are perennial powerhouses as far as I know and I know they're sort of at the top of the ladder and we're going to have to climb if we want to get there," Perez said. "I expect us to be a bit undersized compared to everybody else this season but with what we're doing I think we'll be able to offset that with the scheme that we have in now."

The Lions begin their preseason with a scrimmage at 5 p.m. today against San Saba at Lake View stadium and open the season on Aug. 30 at Eldorado. Key games in district for the Lions will be on the road, including Oct. 18 at Mason and Nov. 8 at Brackett.